Here are the questions in case you don't want to read the history.
What would cause the differences in uptake of Alk, Ca & Mg?
Would a sand sifting goby, tearing up a relatively new sandbed cause an increase in Ca & Mg from the sand?
What should I do to raise Alk without increasing Ca & Mg?
History of the issue at hand.
Tank RSR 250 with a DIY, undersized fuge, only about 9% of volume, my build thread has images of my sump. This system was an upgrade of a 24g cube back on September 1st 2017.
I am doing Triton since September 1, with my tank upgrade. I have not had any nutrient issues to speak of however in the last few weeks my Alk has been dropping but Ca & Mg have stayed on the high side. Today Alk is 7.1 and 6.8 repeated with a new reagent bottle in Hanna checker Ca 494 (Hanna) Mg 1440 (Saifert). 11/19 was at 7.7, 430 and 1480 respectively. I didn't change my dose on the 19th, despite alk going down a bit. I was trying to stay status quo until I got my ICP results back. (Should be within the next week). My original Ca & Mg, on my first ICP were low and back in September and the beginning of October I was dosing Ca & Mg per Triton instructions, but have not done any in weeks.
I'm running a mixed reef with newly added (within the last 2 months) sps frags. Most of the LPS and zoas came from my previous tank. I'm seeing encrusting on the sps, but not great polyp extension. I also have a bunch of small BTAs and 2 medium sized. Truly, other than the limited polyp extension, everything looks pretty good and is growing well. Pic is from a few minutes ago.
May be coincidence, maybe not but I added a 3" sand sifting goby a few weeks ago and it was after he has been disrupting the sand bed (new with tank upgrade) that I have had the increased Ca & Mg.
I've checked my dosing pump etc, and I am pretty confident that all is working as it should and my testing accuracy is good. I tested volumes last week to be sure that they are dosing correctly, since this trend has been doing on for a few weeks.
This is a duplicate post from the Triton FB page, but I thought maybe some additional input, maybe from @Randy Holmes-Farley.
I haven't really found information on how to manage unbalanced results, since I should be dosing equally.
What would cause the differences in uptake of Alk, Ca & Mg?
Would a sand sifting goby, tearing up a relatively new sandbed cause an increase in Ca & Mg from the sand?
What should I do to raise Alk without increasing Ca & Mg?
History of the issue at hand.
Tank RSR 250 with a DIY, undersized fuge, only about 9% of volume, my build thread has images of my sump. This system was an upgrade of a 24g cube back on September 1st 2017.
I am doing Triton since September 1, with my tank upgrade. I have not had any nutrient issues to speak of however in the last few weeks my Alk has been dropping but Ca & Mg have stayed on the high side. Today Alk is 7.1 and 6.8 repeated with a new reagent bottle in Hanna checker Ca 494 (Hanna) Mg 1440 (Saifert). 11/19 was at 7.7, 430 and 1480 respectively. I didn't change my dose on the 19th, despite alk going down a bit. I was trying to stay status quo until I got my ICP results back. (Should be within the next week). My original Ca & Mg, on my first ICP were low and back in September and the beginning of October I was dosing Ca & Mg per Triton instructions, but have not done any in weeks.
I'm running a mixed reef with newly added (within the last 2 months) sps frags. Most of the LPS and zoas came from my previous tank. I'm seeing encrusting on the sps, but not great polyp extension. I also have a bunch of small BTAs and 2 medium sized. Truly, other than the limited polyp extension, everything looks pretty good and is growing well. Pic is from a few minutes ago.
May be coincidence, maybe not but I added a 3" sand sifting goby a few weeks ago and it was after he has been disrupting the sand bed (new with tank upgrade) that I have had the increased Ca & Mg.
I've checked my dosing pump etc, and I am pretty confident that all is working as it should and my testing accuracy is good. I tested volumes last week to be sure that they are dosing correctly, since this trend has been doing on for a few weeks.
This is a duplicate post from the Triton FB page, but I thought maybe some additional input, maybe from @Randy Holmes-Farley.
I haven't really found information on how to manage unbalanced results, since I should be dosing equally.